May

The biggest event that happened in May for us was our decision to move.  Our neighbors have driven us crazy for a year now and since our lease is up we can get out of here.  The catalyst was the night they played their music from 3:00 AM - 4:30 AM.  Joel asked them to turn down their music earlier that night and they basically said it was our decision to have a baby and live in a crappy apartment and they're not going to change their life because of us.  Real winners.  So we called the cops that night and they never came and we decided that we were done.

We started looking for a fairly nice two bedroom apartment under $1300 a month in our same area so we wouldn't have to move out of the ward.  This turnd out to be near impossible.  If you get an apartment under $1300 it's going to be crappy.  The one we're living in now is $1200 a month and it is a deal even with the bad parts about it.  So we looked at apartments outside of the ward boundaries and found a few that would work for us.  As I thought about moving out of the ward I became more and more opposed to it.  We've made a lot of good friends in this ward, it's a good central location for Joel who has to go all over for meetings, and I really love my calling and didn't want to leave it.

So we fasted and prayed to find an apartment that we could afford, that wasn't too crappy, and that would keep us in the ward boundaries.  We exhausted our online resources and so I decided to just drive around looking for For Rent signs.  I found quite a few and called all of them and I think one person picked up but the apartment was too expensive.  I ended up leaving messages for the rest and the next day one person called me back.  She had a two bedroom available for, wait for it ... $1088!! Unheard of for a two bedroom apartment in this area! We figured it had to be really gross or something but we made an appointment to check it out anyway.  The next day we looked at it and to our surprise liked it, and then two days later we signed the lease.  So our prayers were answered and we're moving in about two weeks.  The new place is quite a bit smaller but I think it will be fine, it's in a nice neighborhood, and still close to everything we need.  It's a miracle!  And I'm hoping that even after we move in we think it's a miracle apartment.

So the next two weeks we will be busy packing up and moving which with a very busy toddler running around should make for a super fun time.  Since moving out and going to college in 2005 (8 years ago) I have moved at least once every year, sometimes twice or three times.  I cannot wait for the day that I am settled in a place for even a few years.  I shouldn't be impatient for that though because I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.

Also Oskar got sick in May and couldn't keep anything down for a few days, it made me crazy with worry AGAIN.  But on the plus side in May, Mom and Mari's birthdays were celebrated, and Carson too I think?  We got to go to the beach for Memorial Day with some of Joel's brothers and families, another one of Joel's brothers came to live with us for a few months.  We also had lots of fun swimming times with friends and Oskar and I got to go see Joel on set a few times. 

Oskar showing his muscles


Oskar showing his seldom seen top teeth as he's doing what he thinks is a pretty great smile for the camera

Oskar doing his funny walk which really just means he crouches down a little and walks around, kind of like Groucho Marx

At Zuma Beach for Memorial Day.  I may have gone a little overboard with the sunblock and reminded myself a whole lot of my mother.

 

Me and my precious sweetness taking a little nap

 

Nature or Nurture

Oskar is officially hilarious.  He makes faces all the time, he makes weird noises, and when he realizes we think something is funny he does it again and again.  When we ask him to smile he throws his head back, squinches his eyes, and shows his not often seen upper teeth.  Sometimes he'll be doing something and minding his own business and then will suddenly start with this high pitched scream and liking the sound will scream over and over.  He also takes any kleenex, toilet paper, regular paper, socks, burp cloths, or cloth of any kind and blows his nose on it.  When we ask him to dance he takes a bunch of quick little steps. He waves his arms to lead music whenever he hears some.  When we ask him to say Daddy or dada he says Joel, he refuses to call his father anything but his first name.
 

 

He has four top teeth but we hardly ever get to see them.  

 

 

You can't really tell because his hand is in the way but in this picture he is trying to eat the side of Joel's glasses.

 

This is his number one favorite spot in our apartment.  Every day he'll perch himself on top of the couch and look out the window waving at neighbors and yelling dog every time he sees one.  He also waits for Joel and I here when we leave for work.  He gets very excited when we come home.

His eating is better, but still far from great.  I've found a few things that he'll eat like yogurt, soup, puffs, etc. but he is really resistant to try anything new and even with the stuff he does like sometimes we have to read a book for him or play The Circle of Life just to get him to open his mouth.  That brings up another funny thing.  He LOVES The Circle of Life. If it is playing on the computer or if we even start singing it he'll stop and listen and watch very attentively. 

Pictures!

Oskar broke our last camera and we finally got a new one!  In the last two days we've taken 60 pictures already.  Here are my favorites.